The Wedding Machine (27 page)
When the gals get back in Ray's car, Kitty B. just breaks down. “It's the tackiest place I've ever seen.”
“Hold yourself together until we get out of the parking lot,” Ray warns, but Kitty B. just can't help it. She plunges right into Sis's lap and weeps like there is no tomorrow as Ray nods to the Benningtons who stand on the threshold of the automatic door and wave.
By the time she sits back up again, Ray pulls into the Krispy Kreme shop and Kitty B. spots the glow of the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign in the front window. There's not a Krispy Kreme in Jasper, and the gals know that the fresh glazed doughnuts are Kitty B.'s favorite. They order a couple dozen and take their seats by the window as they watch the newly fried rings of dough sizzle in the hot grease before sliding down the conveyer belt into the shower of icing.
“It could be worse,” Ray says. “It can always be worse.”
“That's true,” Sis says. “Remember when Cricket and Tommy were getting married and his daddy wanted to have the rehearsal dinner at the funeral home?”
They all laugh and Ray says, “Yeah, Tommy McFortson kept pointing across the cemetery to the marsh and saying, âThere's not a better view in town.'”
“Well.” Kitty B. wipes her bleary eyes. “At least his mama had the sense to talk him out of that, and they had a beautiful dinner at the Country Club of Charleston.”
“That's true.” Ray nods. “Somehow I don't think the Benningtons are going to be persuaded so easily.”
“Me neither.” Sis's face softens and she turns to Kitty B. “But let's think about the big picture for a minute, gal. I mean, at least the Benningtons are good people. Decent and well-meaning, don't y'all think?”
They all nod, and Kitty B. takes another bite of her warm, sweet doughnut.
“All right.” Ray pulls out her notebook. “We've just got to figure this thing out.” She dabs her icing-encrusted fingertips on the paper napkin and says, “Kitty B., you've got to talk to Katie Rae and tell her all of her options. Then she and Marshall will just have to decide. This is their day, and it's really up to them.”
Kitty B. shakes her head and says, “I'll try.” She hopes Katie Rae has the sense to insist on All Saints.
“Okay, worst-case scenario.” Ray leans in toward the center of the table as if the Benningtons are right behind them. “We have the ceremony in the Flying Purple People Eater Church.” She spreads her hands out wide and rests them on the table. “Still, the reception at Kitty B.'s will be glorious. We can do the trellis of poinsettias like we wanted. And those twinkling lights on the limbs of all of the live oak trees. Oh, and a big tent with a chandelier or those wrought iron lanterns that R.L. bought last year at that auction in Atlanta. We can have a beautiful pomander of mistletoe dangling from each lantern.
“I tell you, Kitty B., by the time folks drive out to Cottage Island, that awful
cathedral
will be a distant memory, and they'll leave with an image of a crisp and beautiful winter evening under the stars.”
“My place is a wreck, though, y'all,” Kitty B. says, reaching for a second doughnut. “You have to admit that. The house is sagging, the yard is awful, and with LeMar's medical bills, it will be all we can do to pay for the reception. I'm never going to get the place together in time.”
“Hush, Kitty B.,” Ray says. “We're going to find a way to make this work. We'll pitch in and get this thing done, won't we, Sis?”
“Yes, we will,” Sis squeezes Kitty B.'s hand. “It always comes together.”
When they pile back in the car, Ray points to the orchid she meant for Kitty B. to give to the Benningtons.
“Don't worry about it,” Kitty B. says. “It's my turn to take something to Hilda's tonight, and she needs it more than they do.”
As they drive down Highway 17, Kitty B. can't imagine how the wedding is going to come together in the next six weeks. She dreads telling LeMar about the purple church with all of its guitars and microphones and speakers. In fact, she wishes she didn't even have to go home and face him.
Out of the corner of her eye she spots a sign in one of the strip malls with a profile of a poodle. It reads, “Lowcountry Canine Training School” above the poodle and then in small cursive letters beneath his paws, “Sign up to be a dog trainer today.”
Kitty B. sighs. Some days she feels like she slipped off track some time ago. That maybe she ought to be somewhere else doing something else, but she suspects there is no way to get back to that place now.
She hears Ray cluck as they pass by the outlet mall going up outside of Ravenel.
“You see that?” Ray says. “That's only twenty miles away from us. I tell you gals, change is creeping down this highway, and it scares me to death.”
“Don't they have a Liz Claiborne in there?” Sis says.
“Sis!” Ray says as she eyes her in the rearview mirror. “Yes, they do. And that's the whole problem, don't you see?”
Sis giggles and slaps the air with her little hand. “Not all change is bad, Ray.”
Sis looks to Kitty B. “Don't you agree?”
When they all get back to Ray's, Kitty B. gets her own car and drives on around to Hilda's house and walks the orchid up to the door and knocks.
She stands at the door for several minutes before calling, “I've got one of your favorites for you, Hilda. An orchid. One of those yellow ones with the chocolate spots. And some ham biscuits that keep well in the freezer.”
She rests her ear against the door, but she doesn't hear a sound. The last thing in the world she wants to do is get in her car and drive home to LeMar, who will be sitting in his bed waiting for her to fix him supper and fill him in on all the details of the Benningtons and their church.
I don't blame you, Hilda
. She peers into the peephole
. Right now
I wish I could hide out in there too.
Two days ago the Reverend Capers Campbell walked right over to Sis while she was practicing on Ina and said, “May I take you to dinner on Saturday?”
“Why yes,” she said, surprised. She could feel her cheeks turn pink, and he smiled and said, “I'll try to get a reservation at Suzanne's.”
“Great!”
I'm nervous
, Sis writes to Hilda this afternoon when she picks up her casserole dish and drops off a few blueberry muffins and a carton of milk.
I have a date with Capers tonight.
Just as she walks back to her car, she hears the faintest footfalls behind the door, and she wonders if Hilda came down the stairs to get her note. She waits for a while for the door to open, but it doesn't. Sis imagines Hilda just beyond the door, reading her note. She walks back onto the piazza and says. “I'll let you know how it goes, Hilda. I'll write you as soon as I get back.” Then she turns and heads toward the gate, checking back every few seconds to see if the door opens.
An hour later Ray and Kitty B. meet at Sis's house to go over the guest list for Katie Rae's wedding for the umpteenth time, but in truth Sis knows they're here to give her advice and help her pick out an outfit. “So did he really ask you out in the sanctuary?” Kitty B. asks.
“Hush, Kitty B.,” Ray squints her eyes as if the sun is in them. “Don't highlight that part.”
“Why not?” Sis looks up from over her new stylish black bifocals and winks.
“Yeah,” Kitty B. says, reaching for one of the miniature pecan tarts she's brought for a wedding taste test. “That's my favorite part. It makes it all seem
forbidden
or something.” She bites down on the tart, and it takes her several chews to get her teeth loose. Then she points to the list and says, “Now what am I going to do, y'all? The Benningtons have added forty-five additional people to the groom's list.”
“What?” Ray says. “They are already way over their limit with the one hundred and fifteen names they submitted last week! I'm sorry, but they're just out of control. Katie Rae needs to instruct Marshall to call them down on this.”
“I know.” Kitty B. uncovers another tray of potential sweets: mint-covered pecans, lemon squares, and chocolate-dipped macaroons. “It's just that he feels obligated to include certain members of his congregation.”
“If you ask me”âRay straightens her shouldersâ“I think the Benningtons are taking advantage of the situation. They must think just because y'all live on the water and own a few antiques that this will be no skin off your back.”
“Well.” Kitty B. wipes the powdered sugar from her fingertips on the sides of her Lowcountry Manna apron. “LeMar told me he thinks we should just let it go.”
“Really?” Sis cocks her head and raises her eyebrows. “LeMar's not concerned?”
“He's not this week,” Kitty B. says. “In fact, ever since Vangie sent her painters and the landscape folk over to the house to fix things up, he's gotten a new spring in his step. He's gone out to his old baby bud rosebush and started pruning it, and he's even been meeting with a composer at the College of Charleston who is writing an original piece for him to sing at the wedding.”
“That's wonderful!” Sis bobs her chin up and down. “Maybe this is just what he needed to jumpstart himself.”
“I sure hope so, Sis,” Kitty B. says, folding over the new additions to the groom's list. “Either that or he's become a full-blown schizophrenic.”
The gals chuckle and Kitty B. declares, “Let's forget about the guest list for now. I'd rather focus on Sis and getting her ready for her date.”
“Gals.” Sis can't help but shake her head at them. “Y'all act like we're still in high school.”
“Don't be critical.” Ray pulls up the Saks shopping bag at her feet. “Let's have some fun and pick out what you're going to wear.”
“You practically look like you could be in high school, Sis,” Kitty B. says. “It's true. Isn't it, Ray?”
Ray nods and Kitty B. continues, “You look like you're in your early thirties at the most, Sis. I don't see how you do it.”
Sis waves them off. “Hush.” But they pull her up from the chair and walk her into the closet, where they sort through her options.
“I do wish Hilda were here,” Ray says. “She's the one who really knows how to put things together, but I brought this in case you might want to try it.” Ray pulls out the turquoise necklace that Carson bought her for her birthday. Sis feels the weight of it in her hand and says, “I'm afraid I'll look like a crooked-neck egret in this. I don't think I have the strength to hold my head up with it on.”
Ray nods. “I'm not sure I like it either, but my daughter-in-law said it was very stylish.”
“Of course, anything I have would look like a tent on you.” Kitty B. points to her wide hips. “And everything I own is at least twenty years old. But I did pull out this red blouse from Katie Rae's drawer. I thought the color would look great on you.”
“Y'all are sweet,” Sis says. She knows they can't help but get excited about a romantic prospect. It's just the way they are. “But I think I'd better wear something I'm comfortable in.” She tries on a few of her outfits and finally, they settle on a brown silk blouse Sis bought from Ann Taylor last year with a little lace around the trim and a pair of camel-colored wool pants and some dark suede flats with little square buckles on top.
“Are you going over to Sylvia's?” Ray whispers after they approve Sis's choice.
“No need to whisper,” Kitty B. says. “Hilda is way out of earshot now.”
“No, I'm not going to get my hair done.” Sis looks at the clock ticking above her stove. “And it's not because I'm boycotting Sylvia.” She looks in the mirror and back to Ray, “I think my hair looks fine the way it is. I'm just going to give it a little washing and go.”
“That's a fine idea.” Kitty B. turns to Ray. “Part of Sis's charm is how natural she appears. Now let's get out of here and give her some time to get ready.”
